August 12, 2007

"Bullfighting in Portugal... deprives the bull of his dignity." It's illegal to kill the bull in Portugal, but one bullfighter did, and he's been fined $137,000:

The crowd had begun waving white napkins and chanting, “Kill the bull! Kill the bull!” [Pedrito] recalled in an interview. Eager to satisfy, he pulled out his sword and stabbed the raging half-ton bull in its spinal cord. He received a standing ovation, was hoisted on the crowd’s shoulders and paraded through the streets....

The case spawned a national debate here. His supporters argue that a death-free struggle is a sacrilege because the culmination of a bullfight should reflect man’s ultimate triumph or defeat against the bull, while critics contend that Portugal must retain its civility and show humanity to animals....

Sociologists here say that bullfighting in Portugal is less of a blood sport than in Spain because the Portuguese, compared with the Spanish, are “soft machos.”

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, a leading cultural commentator, notes in this regard that António de Oliveira Salazar, the dictator who ruled Portugal for nearly 40 years, was less authoritarian than Francisco Franco in Spain. Furthermore, he says, rather than pillaging their empire, as the Spanish did, the Portuguese married and reproduced with the inhabitants of their colonies.

“We Portuguese are lovers, not fighters,” he said. “And this is reflected in most aspects of our culture, including our approach to bullfighting.”

We are lovers! We fight bulls but don't kill them. Our dictators are less authoritarian, and our conquerors refrain from pillaging. Come on, that's a concept of love, isn't it?

10 comments:

In the Azores (part of Portugal) they do a bullfight that's a less macho version of Pamplona. The bull is partially restrained by a long rope held by four guys, and his horns are capped. It's a summer spectacle in a lot of the small towns and mostly harmless. The village studs tease the bull then run away. A couple guys a year get seriously hurt, occasionally there's a death. And the bull goes back to his lovely volcanic-rock-fenced field with a view of the Atlantic.

Maybe they should give the bull the dignity of choosing whether it wants to fight at all...? Let them roam free. If they happen to wander into an arena and pick a fight, fine fight to the death. But same goes for any civilians they happen across while out and about. Sounds fair to me.

I raised beef cattle for 20 some years, and always had a bull. As long as the cows were in the fence, you never had to worry about the bull leaving. You did, however, always have to keep your eye on them. For whatever reasons, if they felt somehow threatened, or if they thought you were threatening the cows, they would start to tilt their head, then you knew they meant business. Bull fighting, is prompted by teasing (sticking annoying lances in them), provoking the bull to be more aggressive then normal. Bulls are fine as long as they don't feel threatened or annoyed. These "machos" should try slapping a grizzly bear.

I've been quite critical at times in terms of how I feel the U.S. has lagged European society and laws, especially in terms of things like health care and support for workers, but in terms of animal protection, we are way ahead of Europeans here in America.

These people think this guy is a hero, while I am proud to contrast that bit of barbarism with the observation that here in America most people are completely disgusted with Michael Vick. At least in this area Americans have by far the more responsive society.

As to the 'brave' matador, I've got one suggestion-- whether he would be willing to ride a rodeo bull. No quills sticking into his shoulder muscles, no sword, nothing to weaken him, and if anyone gets hurt, it's the matador turned rodeo cowboy.